Memories
by MichiyoYuki
Summary: She left everything behind, her friends, her past, her name. The last thing she needed to remember was the beast. Even after being 'awakened' by Tsunade from her 'slumber', she can't help but recall them. Why?  Some Pre-Konoha History, no OC-pairings
1. First Encounter

**A/N: This is about my OC recalling her pre-Konoha days when she's living in Konoha after 80 years and takes place after the 4th Great Shinobi War.**

"..." - dialogue

_...123 _- thoughts

**Please** **Review!**

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Mishimoto

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><p>"I have memories - but only a fool stores his past in the future."<p>

- Francois de La Rochefouca

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><p><strong>*Flashback*<strong>

The autumn leaves fell one by one onto the ground, signalling that winter was near. The noises of children playing in the warm sunlight could be heard, everything was peaceful. I leaned against the exterior wall of the barn, day-dreaming. The sky was filled with a sea of baby-blue with the white cotton-like clouds hanging and moving past often. I closed my eyes and listened to the trees's whisper, the leaves's rustle. Footsteps could be heard, but the person's chakra was unusual, unlike mine. His was.. _unique.._ Another footstep could be heard, a faint one. Both chakras were .. _weird_..?

As they came closer, my defense rose. Few meters away from me, they stopped. My defense didn't falter. I had grown suspicious of who they were and had the feeling of wanting to _eliminate_ them if they were enemies. I opened my eyes as soon as a hand was felt on my shoulder. My slightly dull colored purple eyes shifted it's gaze onto two boys, around my age and were taller than me. No taller than a meter and half.

The first boy had straight dark brown hair, almost black, that reached to his shoulders. His eyes were of the same color as his hair. Wearing a plain white top with a few dirt stains on it, a pair of black shorts that reached to his knees and a pair of black shinobi sandals, he introduced himself,"Konnichiwa.. I'm Hashirama," he looked at the second boy who was standing to his right,"This is my younger brother, Tobirama." The younger brother, who had short gray hair and dull red eyes, just nodded slightly and in response I did the same, with curiosity.

Their attention shifted back to me, "... Konnichiwa.."

"I've never seen you around here before.. Are you new to the village..?" Hashirama asked, sitting down.

I nodded.

"Not much of a talker are you.." He gave a nervous laugh.

I looked back at the sky, no clouds were in sight. "Nii-san, it's time to go.." Tobirama looked at me then to Hashirama. Hashirama looked at me for a minute and then patted my dull purple-brown hair,"Let's meet here again and I hope you'll tell me your name!" He smiled and waved while Tobirama was pulling his other hand, dragging him back, probably to a place called 'home'. I placed my right hand on where he patted me and gazed at them till they were out of my sight. _I wonder what was that all about...?_

The sky was about to turn dark. The colors - orange,yellow and red were mixed into a beautiful scarlet that I watched everyday. I had no 'home', no 'parents'. True, it affected me but I tried to cover up my sadness. To me, displaying my emotions would mean showing my weakness. Thus I had to keep that expression on my face, an expression of neither happiness, sadness nor anger. I sat up and dusted the dirt from my brown-black overalls and strolled along a dirt path to where a small orphanage resides.

The people there were good to me, no bullies, no trouble. Everything was peaceful. The orphanage contained no more than 20 children, with no more than 4 caretakers, who always tell us to stay away from the other clans. It was between the Uchiha compound and the Senju compound. No one disturbed us, no rogue ninjas, no bandits. It was _too_ _p__eaceful_ that something felt wrong. The Uchihas and the Senju would usually fight around the forest, few kilometers away from the orphanage and would always try not to disturb the small cottage here as they knew we were innocent people and shouldn't get us involved in their _war_.

(Next Day)

A small little blue bird with some yellow feathers stood at my window, chirping every 10 minutes, like an alarm clock on snooze. It pecked lightly on the window glass, telling me to wake up. I stared at the morning sky from the old frosted window glass. I yawned and sat up, folding the blanket away, I tip-toed past some children sleeping on the wooden floor with sleeping bags, and made my way to the toilet. I looked into the mirror, my short hair was messy and my eyelids were barely able to open. Splashing the cold water onto my face, I quickly washed up and strolled downstairs to help with the chores. Most care-takers were awake by now and had to wake the other children up. Sweeping the floor, cleaning the windows and tidying up the orphanage were part of my daily chores. Food for the orphanage was supplied by someone, someone who assigned the care-takers to take care of us. Loud footsteps could be heard and this means that the other children were now fully awake and ready to help with the chores.

"Kayo! Haru! Gina! Stop running down the stairs!" Care-taker Mai shouted at the three youngest and most active children in the cottage. The trio just responded by giggling. It wasn't long till Haru, a girl whose height only reached till my waist, tripped against the edge of the stairs and was about to fall on the ground, face first. I quickly ran over and hugged Haru, who was safe in my arms. I landed on the floor with quite a loud thud and suffered from only a small scratch on my left arm since the impact caused an empty glass to fall into pieces.

Haru looked at me, close to tears when she saw a small amount of blood on my wound. "Haru," I patted her head,"Don't cry, it's just a small scratch.."

"B-But.. O-Onee-san.. hurt.." Haru sobbed.

Care-taker Mai came over and carried Haru, telling her to stop crying. Mother Miki, another care-taker whom the children always call her, came over to tend to my scratch. "Onee-san, please take the children outside to play while we prepare breakfast." Miki tied a small ribbon using the bandages. I just nodded and the rest of the children followed me outside, not forgetting to bring along the title-less book Mother Miki bought for me. It had a red-brown colored hard cover with a black string for a bookmark. the words were easy to read and weren't in a small or too big font. As I opened the door, the glare of the sunlight was bright and caused me to use the book as a shade. It didn't seem to affect the other children, probably because I was the tallest. I went over to the same spot outside the barn and sat there as I watched the children run around and play with the sand. "Onee-san, do you want to join us?" A girl with brown hair which was tied in two braids and wearing a light blue yukata asked. I shook my head,"Don't worry about me." All the girl did was looked at me for less than 10 seconds and ran off. I bet it must be that I hardly spoke. The children had names, names that are used to call them. Only I was the odd one out. I didn't possess a thing called a _'__name'_, it found it unnecessary. Thus they all called me Onee-san (Big Sister).

Few minutes had passed, it was calm. I opened my book and started reading, not caring if the two brothers from yesterday appeared again. Judging from their looks, they were probably Senjus. I flipped to the last twenty pages, blank. I took out a pen and wrote :

- Hashirama Senju, active, friendly

And left a line and wrote :

- Tobirama Senju, brother of Hashirama Senju, quiet

I placed the pen back into my pocket and closed the book, closed my eyes and listened to the surroundings. It's.. peaceful.. no war today.. It wasn't long till I saw a fast and sharp kunai coming my way. I knew I couldn't dodge in time. I had to _'__sacrifice' _something. The speed of the kunai was fast but my eyes kept with the speed. I raised my book to the left with my left hand, blocking the kunai's attack. I held onto the book with some force to keep up with the clashing impact. I had to say, the force was indeed strong. I then took the kunai out with little effort and threw it back from the direction it came from. I swear I heard a growl from behind the trees. I glanced at the children, they were safe, unaffected. I stood up, walked towards the forest. Another kunai came flying but it wasn't fast enough to make my eyes lose it's target. I leaned my head slightly to the right to avoid the attack. I took another step forward and before I knew it, I was pinned to the ground by a boy, almost the same height as the Senju brothers, with spiky shoulder-length dark blue hair. Both my hands were restrained by his left hand, held above my head with his right hand holding a kunai, pressing against my throat. He was wearing a short black shirt with a raised-collar, black pants with bandages at the end and dark blue shinobi shoes. The most distinctive feature about the boy who was on top of me would be his eyes. His eyes were red and had three black tomoes. _Sharingan.. So this boy is an Uchiha.. Senju and then an Uchiha.. Looks like my day isn't going well.._

I looked at him, trying my best to contain my curiosity to look into his eyes. I used my same old cold voice,"How long are you going to remain in that same position..?"

He loosen his grip on me and the kunai, deactivated his Sharingan and finally seemed to realise that the position we're in was indeed a little awkward. He blushed slightly and quickly got off me,"G-Gomen.." I sat up the dusted the dirt off my overalls. Not far, footsteps, fast footsteps could be heard. I wasn't surprised whether the next person who came out of the forest was either a Uchiha or a Senju._ Yesterday and today was full of too many surprises.. Let's hope it doesn't continue to be the same for the rest of the week.._

"Nii-san.." Another boy appeared, coming out of the forest, wearing what the previous boy wore but his hair wasn't that long. _Twins..?_ Another thing I noticed was a fan-like print with the upper part paint red and the lower, white._ Must be the Uchiha clan symbol.._

"Izuna.." The brother turned to this 'Izuna' and spoke for awhile before 'Izuna' turned his head to me.

"Umm.. Konnichiwa.. I'm Uchiha Izuna," He gave a nervous smile and turned to his brother,"This is my older brother, Uchiha Madara."

"Izuna.. Why are you introducing us..?" Madara questioned his brother in a deep voice. Quite cold if I may add.

Izuna just gave a nervous laugh,"Well.. Isn't it because she dodged your fast kunais?"

"It's the opposite," I picked up my book, which now had a small crack on the front cover and traced along the edges,"His kunais are just too slow."

I felt their gazes on me, especially Madara's. He was about to say something something when I heard a cry. Gina's cry. I was afraid that they would get hurt, or bullied by other children, which wouldn't really happen. I dashed towards the direction of Gina's cry, to find the Senju brothers there treating her wound. ...This is really bad... I couldn't let the Uchihas see the Senjus and let the Senjus see the Uchihas. _But I really couldn't care less._ I sighed,"What's wrong, Gina?" I tried to sound concern.

"Onee-san.." the girl from before looked at me, causing everyone's attention to shift to me,"Gina accidentally fell and two Onii-sans came to help us."

More like they came to 'spy' on us.. I mentally said to myself. I walked over and bent down,"Gina, can you stand?"

She nodded, trying to keep her tears from falling. "The rest of you talk Gina back for brea-"

"Oi~" Madara's voice could be heard from behind, not far, and this raised Hashirama's and Tobirama's attention. _...This is getting worst.. But if a fight occurs, ensuring the children's safety is priority..._

Izuna's and Madara's footsteps could be heard clearly from behind the bushes. ... _Should I just wait for the next scene to unfold or...?_ "One-san, were you talking to someone just now?" A boy with light brown hair asked. I remained that same emotionless face of mine. Tobirama was getting quite suspicious of me. "Hashirama-san and Tobirama-san, you guys should return to your household." They looked at me, then Hashirama spoke,"Is there something you don't want _us_ to see?" I was about to reply when the bushes behind me started to rustle and the Uchiha brothers stepped out.

"So you're over her-" Madara stopped when he saw the Senjus and narrowed his eyes on them but managed to mutter the words,"_Sen-Senju..!_"

"Hashirama.." Tobirama tapped his brother's shoulder, signalling him something.

"Nii-san.." Izuna held Madara's right arm, trying to stop him but Madara escaped from his brother's grip and the next thing he did, shocked me. He did the tiger hand sign, along with few other hand signs and whispered the words,"Katon : Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release : Great Fireball Technique)" Right after he did that, a huge fireball - the size of a 2-story building appeared, aiming directly at the Senjus, including the children.

***End of Flashback***

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><p><strong>Hope it wasn't too long Chapter 2 is coming out and I would really love to hear your opinions!<strong>

**-Yuki**


	2. New Student

**A/N: Here's Chapter 2 of Memories~ It's basically continued from the flashback and once again, please review!**

"..." - dialogue

_...123_ - thoughts

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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><p>"Bosnia is under my skin, It's the place you cannot leave behind. I was obsessed by the nightmare of it all; there was this sense of guilt, and an anger that has become something much deeper over these last years."<p>

- Mahmoud Abbas

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><p>I quickly opened my eyes to end the horrible dream and place my left arm over my eyes. <em>Why did I recall of it now.. of all times..<em> I let out a sigh and got out of my bed, making my way to the bathroom. It was only a day after I've been 'awaken' from my 'slumber' by Tsunade, the current Hokage and somehow my grandniece, after few generations had past for the Senju clan.

Maybe I should explain how it all happened. It first started with my meeting with the two clans, and I was adopted by the Senju clan after Hashirama and Tobirama spoke to their parents about me. Though Madara didn't really seem to like the idea. _Speaking of it.. I didn't ask the reason why.. But never mind he's already dead isn't he.._ A yawn managed to escape from my mouth. Now then continuing, few years had passed and I was somehow trained to fight like a shinobi, or rather I became a shinobi.. but the Elders of Senju didn't allow me to participate in the war, which I didn't really care if I had to. Then after few years had passed, the Senjus and the Uchihas amazingly made a truce to 'create' a village called Konohagakure or Konoha. At first Madara objected but was forced by his clan members to accept the offer. And of course, Hashirama used his wood release to produce the villages' infrastructure which caused a lot of his chakra to be drained. Although they lived peacefully with the other clans the Uchihas conquered, Madara feared that the Senjus would oppress them since Hashirama was voted to be Hokage by most of the villagers, he never got any support.. And he was forced to take on Hashirama, who was considered my brother with Tobirama, alone. Then somewhere along the line I 'died', or rather went into 'sleep' in a forest after Izuna's demise. If you're wondering how I 'died', I suffered a heavy blow from a foe shinobi though I survived it but the rest thought I was dead. And my info stops here since I was isolated from the outside world.

And many many years later, a blond woman, yes, it's Tsunade who found me 'asleep' in the heart of a forest. Truth be told, I didn't know how I ended up in the forest nor did I know how my hair changed from dull purple to silver. _I hope I'm not aging..._ I decided to leave everything behind, only Tsunade shall know that the girl from back then is still alive.. I splashed cold water on my face, trying to wake myself. My eyes were still a dull purple although my hair has grown a lot longer and had turned silver. Because my hair changed to another color, I look different from how I used to be.. _Bet no one recognises me anymore.. Even if they are alive.._ I let out another sigh.

I changed into what Tsunade called, a school uniform. Unlike my ANBU uniform which was what I am wearing now, it had short white sleeved blouse with a dark blue tie, a dark brown pleated skirt that reached till the mid-thigh, a pair of black socks or rather black stockings that were only few inches below my knee and a pair of brown shoes (Japanese School Shoes). _... What kind of style is this...?_ I quickly undress myself and wore what was given to me.

On the bedside table was a light brown-yellow folder that Tsunade requested me to read. I opened it and scanned through the whole report for important words while making my way to Tsunade's office. Fourth Shinobi War... Akatsuki.. An S-rank criminal organisation consisting of 10 members, the leader Pein also known as Pein, Konan, Hoshigaki Kisame, Uchiha Itachi.. Uchiha..? Deidara, Sasori, Hidan, Kakuzu, Zetsu and Tobi. I closed the file and took out a notebook, a book full of notes that I wrote when I was still alive. A book with a black hard cover. I took out a pen, flipped to a new page and wrote :

- Pein or rather known as Uzumaki Nagato, Amegakure, leader of Akatsuki, trained by a sannin called Jiraiya, has six bodies, possess the Rin'negan, S-rank.

- Konan, Amegakure, part of Akatsuki, also trained by Jiraiya, uses paper ninjutsus, S-rank.

- Hoshigaki Kisame, Kirigakure, part of Akatsuki, Kenjutsu (Sword Techniques), massive amount of chakra, uses a sword called Samehada that sucks chakra, S-rank.

- Uchiha Itachi, Konohagakure, part of Akatsuki, Kekkei Genkai - Sharingan/Mangekyo Sharingan, former ANBU squad captain, S-rank..

I stopped before continuing to write another point under Uchiha Itachi,

- murdered his clan.

- Deidara, Iwagakure, part of Akatsuki, Kekkei Genkai - Explosion Release, uses exploding clay, eye scope, mouths on his hands, former student of the third Tsuchikage, S-rank.

- Sasori or rather known as Akasuna no Sasori, Sunagakure, part of Akatsuki, uses puppets and is a puppet himself, uses poison, S-rank.

- Hidan, Yugakure, part of Akatsuki, Jashinist, uses a scythe, a living voodoo doll, S-rank.

- Kakuzu, Takigakure, Treasurer of Akatsuki, bounty hunter, a total of 5 hearts including his own, uses all 5 elements, melee form and long range form, has stitches throughtout his body, uses tentacles, S-rank.

- Zetsu, a spy for Akatsuki, split personalities - black and white, created from the cells of Hashirama Senju thus origins are unknown, able to mutiple and split into half, sensor-type shinobi, S-rank.

- Tobi, secret leader of Akatsuki - true or false?, Konohagakure, calls himself Uchiha Madara and then denies it - ?, person who started the Fourth Great Shinobi War, uses a war fan, posses the Rin'negan and Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, strong enough to be a Kage.

I put my pen inside a pocket, ignoring the strange stares of my outfit from the villagers. I flipped back to the first page of the book, where I copied the first contents of the Senjus and the Uchihas and started to read through them while walking along the Hokage Office's corridors. I closed the book and knocked on the door.

"Enter." Tsunade's stern voice could be heard.

I turned the door knob and made my way into the office that had seemed to have never changed even when I was gone, for decades. She stopped writing immediately and glanced my way. "So how are you feeling today?" "Still the same." I spoke while taking a seat.

"I hope you've read the file.." I gave a slight nod. "As you've been notified, the Fourth Great Shinobi War has recently ended and we, Konoha, have taken Akatsuki into captive," She opened a drawer and took out a peach coloured bracelet,"We got them using this." She placed the bracelet on the table, resting her elbows on the desk and leaned forward,"This isn't any ordinary bracelet, it prevents chakra from flowing throughout a person's body. Once on one's wrist, it cannot be open without the special key and is made to withstand any impact. Making them unable to use chakra. And we've managed to capture the Akatsuki using this."

She paused for awhile,"Including a resurrected Madara."

My eyes widened from pure shock, but I didn't display it on my face. It was as always, calm and emotionless. "What do you mean?" I questioned, folding my arms. Tsunade sighed, fearing that the information might be too much for me,"A man who works for Orochimaru, another sannin like me, used Edo Tensei to revive Madara as an trump card for the war." _Edo Tensei..?_ "By Edo Tensei, you don't mean the technique Tobirama created?" "Unfortunately, yes."

I sighed once more, changing the topic,"So what was your purpose for 'awakening' me?" "Well.. to simply put it, I want you to watch over Akatsuki at the academy that was built recently."

"Academy?" I asked. "Ah. The academy where Konoha's local shinobis are also attending. A normal school where no one is allowed to use any jutsus." "Hmm.." I tried to sound interested in it.

"And I want you to watch over them, including a boy called Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi's younger brother. Everyone there are required to wear these bracelets, sorted by their strength, the gold means their strength is average, blue meaning A-rank to S-rank strength and of course peach meaning Kage strength. My ancestor, I hope your skills aren't rusty."

I took the bracelet and put it around my wrist, feeling my chakra being drained the moment I put it on. "Don't underestimate me.." My cold voice sent a smirk on my descendant's face. "I'll be placing ANBUs around to guard you. And I almost forgot, since you left everything behind, your name from now on will be Hitomi."

I walked towards the door but finally remembered something,"Tsunade, where's my katana?"

"Your katana is with a girl called TenTen, she'll pass it to you at class."

"Hn."

As soon as I walked out, a female ANBU with long purple hair wearing a cat mask with a red ANBU tattoo on her right arm, appeared. "Hitomi-sama, it is an honor."

"Ah." She took out a piece of paper,"This is a map to the Academy and your schedule, Hitomi-sama." I received the paper and she went back to spying on me in the shadows. I exited the building and according to the directions, I made my way to the academy. Stopping once awhile to see how the villagers are doing and how much the village had changed was quite the pleasure. A familiar warm feeling returned. An invisible smile was plastered on my face.

_'Baby-sitting' the Akatsuki.. huh...? Let's hope it all goes well.._

The long awaited breeze that I've always wanted to feel, is now blowing gently against my long, silky silver hair as I take my first step into the Academy grounds.

I looked back at my schedule :

First Period - Homeroom by Hatake Kakashi

Second Period - Science by Kato Shizune

Third Period - Art by Kurenai Yuhi

Fourth Period - Maths by Sarutobi Asuma

Fifth Period - Break

Sixth Period - History & Geography by Umino Iruka

Seventh Period - Physical Education by Maito Gai

Eighth Period - Language by Ebisu

_Quite a busy day.. don't you think..?_ I spoke to myself, which I always do. I took out my book, reading all the information again, from page 1 to the end. I stopped in front of a classroom that had the words : 'Homeroom' at the top. I knocked on the door once and slide open the wooden sliding doors. Still reading my book, I could feel everyone's gazes on me. I glanced up, fixing my dull purple eyes on a man, no older than 30, with short silver hair in what most jonins would wear with his headband cover his left eye, reading a green book with the same picture on both covers. As I walked beside him, the students were watching my every movement.

"As I was saying, a new student will be joining us today." He turned and faced me,"Please tell the class your name."

I closed my book,"Hitomi."

The class looked at me, then the teacher and back at me. "What is it?" I said in a bored tone.

"Umm.. Family name..?" A girl with short pink hair using her headband as a hairband. The room was silent for almost 5 seconds. _Should I tell them? I guess there's no harm in doing so.._

I faced the class,"Senju."

The response was slightly the same from what I had anticipated, shocked. I could hear whispers flying everywhere,"I thought there weren't anymore Senjus.." or "Who is that girl?". A short blond hair boy asked,"So.. You're related to Tsunade baa-chan?" _Tsunade baa-chan...?_ I nodded. The teacher clapped his hands, getting the class's attention,"Some of you might have noticed it but Hitomi is a Peach," He looked at me again, pointing to himself and whispered,"And I'm Hatake Kakashi, nice to meet you, Hitomi-sama.."

"Hn.." He glanced back,"Hitomi-san, can you please take the sit next to Uchiha Itachi." _Uchiha Itachi.._ I immediately knew where he was since the Uchihas had a special kind of aura around them, same goes for the Senjus. _Second column third row.._ Walking up the steps, I could feel intense stares from a certain group. I turned to my right to find Akatsuki staring at me. _So that's the famous Akatsuki huh.._

I turned back and sat beside him,"It's been a long time since I've seen any Uchihas."

He didn't reply but gave a slight nod. I took out my book and started reading the information I wrote, not listening to what Kakashi was saying for the rest of the period. During that time, a pair of eyes kept watching my every movement like a hawk._ Must be someone from Akatsuki.._ I also felt the presences of how many ANBUs were watching me and the students chakra amount. If you're wondering what the guys wore, they were wearing a short white shirt with a dark blue tie, long dark brown pants and a pair of brown shoes, like the girls. The school bell finally rang. The students were making their way out of the classroom and were heading to the next location. Uchiha Itachi had left, along with the other members of the Akatsuki. The classroom was almost empty. I walked down the stairs, still feeling that someone was watching me.

Walking past the door, a girl with brown hair that was tied into two buns came up to me,"Konnichiwa, I'm Tenten." I glance at her and tried speaking in a not-rude tone,"What do you want?"

"Umm.. your Katana.. Tsunade-sama asked me to pass it to you.." She gave a weak smile and passed me a scroll. I noticed she's a Gold. I examined the scroll, a storage scroll huh.. I closed my book as she started to chat about some non-relevant things. It wasn't soon till a boy with black hair and thick eyebrows spotted me and shouted,"Konnichiwa! My name's Rock Lee!"

"Lee! Don't shout along the corridor!" Tenten yelled. _So who's the one who's yelling now..?_ I mentally complained.

As we walked to the next classroom, more friends of Tenten introduced themselves, among them were two Hyugas, Hyuga Hinata and Hyuga Neji, a brown haired boy with two red facial fang-like markings whose name was Inuzuka Kiba and his dog Akamaru, a girl with long blond hair whose name was Yamanaka Ino, Aburama Shino a quiet boy who wears sunglasses, another boy who had his hair tied up and an amazing IQ level, Nara Shikamaru, a boy who keeps eating junk food called Akimichi Chouji, a boy who was with the ROOT ANBU, Sai, the girl from before Haruno Sakura and lastly the Kyubi's Jinchuriiki and the clan that had close ties with the Senju, Uzumaki Naruto. They were all Blue,Gold,Blue,Gold,Gold,Gold,Blue,Gold,Blue,Blue, and Peach respectively.

"Uzumaki.." I whispered, not realising that Naruto had heard me.

"Hai..?" He asked, leaning his head on the hands behind him.

"Nothing." I replied coldly. After walking around the Academy for almost ten minutes, we reach the science classroom. The students walked towards their arranged seat positions, waiting for class to start.

A woman in her mid-thirties with short black hair came over,"Konnichiwa Hitomi-sama, my name's Kato Shizune. Tsunada-sama's assistant as well as your teacher for science." She gave me a smile before reminding me,"Tsunade-sama wants me to remind you about your mission.."

"What mission?" the Yamanaka and Uzumaki kid overheard our conversation. Naruto kept repeating what he said, which I found annoying.

"Umm.." Shizune was moving backwards from all the stress exerted on her by Ino's curiosity. I walked towards the third column's fifth row and sat at the back. Akatsuki members just entered the classroom and most of them sat in the middle column. That familiar presence came and sat beside me, I knew who it was without even looking at _him_. Shizune glanced my way, begging me to help her.

"Shizune," the students attention was on me. "I don't really mind."

Shizune probably got what I meant and spoke,"*ahem* Due to Ino's curiosity after overhearing me and Hitomi-sama's conversation about Hitomi-sama's mission, I shall tell the class so that Ino and Naruto will stop asking." Akatsuki glanced to Shizune. "Hitomi-sama's mission is to watch over Akatsuki and make sure that they do not cause any trouble." Naruto raised his hand,"Shizune-san, why are you call Hitomi as Hitomi-sama -dattebayo?" "Ermm.. well..." Shizune couldn't find any excuse and immediately changed the subject. I took out my book and continued reading the information while once again, getting glares from Akatsuki once in awhile.

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><p><strong>AN: Naruto chapter 572, it took my breathe away... CHIBI KURAMAAAAAAAA! + TEARSSS! It was so cuutttee-**

***Please Excuse Our Author While She's Having A Fangirl Moment***

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***Ahem!* Now that the 9 names of all 9 bijuus are out, I can complete Memories much faster. And thank you Chillybean for being my first reviewer! It's only my third year writing fanfics so I hope I'm doing a good job! Chapter 3's coming out soon.**

**-Yuki**


	3. Ikebana

**A/N: Chapter 3 of Memories's up as promised. A short scene of Tobi and Hitomi .**

"..." - dialogue

_...123 _- thoughts

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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><p>"Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts."<p>

- Andy Goldsworthy

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><p>'Ding Dong~'<p>

The second chime went off,_ Art lesson.._ I closed my book and stared out of the window, waiting for a _certain_ person next to me to move away. I chose a seat at the furthest end of the classroom which was directly beside the window. When I felt _his_ presence was gone, I stood up and strolled out of the classroom. The Academy wasn't big nor small, clean with still the smell of paint. A large glass window was on the left of the corridor I just entered and to my right were few tall dark green lockers. I could hear the loud voices of Naruto and gang few meters down the next stretch of the corridor. No one was around me, I was alone, walking down the corridor following the noises made by Naruto and gang. As I was about to turn right at the next bent of the corridor, _someone_ slammed his hand against the wall few centimetres infront of my face. I wasn't surprised at all, knowing that Akatsuki would do this.

I merely stopped in my tracks and gave the guy a glare,"What do you want?"

"That should be our question," He had a deep voice but not as deep as Madara's. _Pein.. huh.._ I turned my body to face him, putting on a bored expression. "What did she mean by 'watch over Akatsuki'?" I felt his purple Rin'negan eyes stare at me.

"If you have any questions, shouldn't you be asking Tsunade instead of me, Nagato?"

He seemed slightly taken back that I knew his name even though he was using one of his six bodies, Pein. "The lady over there," I looked at the lady with blue hair and a paper rose in her hair,"It would be best if you stop staring at me."

"Pein.."

His familiar voice caught my attention. I faced a man, taller than me with short dark blue hair wearing a mask with swirls and an open hole.

_Tobi or ...?_

He had his arms crossed, then released them and grab my arm, dragging me to who-knows-where. "Where are you taking her _Tobi_?" Pein questioned, annoyed.

"I need to talk to her," He stopped and faced Pein,"_In private_."

I felt slightly amused by this and let out a soft chuckle. He looked at me but ignored my response and continued dragging me, grabbing me tighter. There was slight pain but I didn't showed any emotion of it nor let out a sound of it. We walked and walked till we reached a silent hallway. He finally let go of me and I could swear that my wrist is now red.

He glanced at me and leaned against the wall,"Why are you still alive?"

"I think you've mistaken me for someone else." I closed my eyes, resting them from reading the books.

"Even if your hair colour and voice changed, your eye colour and personality remains."

"I guess I still can't hide from _you_," I lift my eyelids slightly,"The world thinks I'm dead but I just went into 'slumber'. There, you have your answer. Now, answer my questions." He gaze my way then nodded. "Who are you? You aren't Madara because Edo Tensei requires a dead person's body."

"That, you will find out in time, _Hitomi_."

I felt uncomfortable with him calling me 'Hitomi' but continued,"Second question, what are _you_ and Madara plotting? I won't let you destroy Aniki's (another word for 'Older Brother') treasure." I gave him a stern glare, tilting my head to his way slightly.

"That Senju's treasure? Don't make me laugh. The Uchihas also had a part in this so-called treasure." He spat, then utter the words,"Tsukuyomi."

_Tsukuyomi..?_

"_You.._" I spoke, with a slight intention of killing him right here, right now. "_Hn_." I turned around and walked off, heading to Art. I could feel his presence behind me, _so he decided to keep a distance.._ If you're wondering what color he was, he's Peach, as expected.

I glanced past the glass window once in a while although I stopped abruptly when I saw two twins, no younger than 5, one of them had fell and was crying while the other was panicking. Deciding to ignore the scene to get a hold on my emotions, I slid open the door to find a lady near her thirties with black wavy hair and red eyes with an extra ring in them, looking at me with gentleness in her eyes. I then noticed another thing about her, a bump on her stomach. _A pregnant lady...?_

"Konnichiwa Hitomi-san." She smiled at me, rubbing her stomach. I nodded in response then turned to see the class's seating arrangement. _So Akatsuki's absent.._ I sat beside Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru. The big fluffy dog bark once when he saw me, probably greeting me. I pat his head and Kiba commented,"Looks like Akamaru has taken a liking to your smell." _Smell?_ Below me was Naruto, who curiously asked,"Hey Hitomi, I got a question." I fixed my eyes on him. "Why does Kakashi-sensei and other teachers call you with honorifics while _you_ don't?" I just gave a simple reply,"Beats me." Naruto turned around and started to make a list of reasons and asked others for the answer.

Kurenai placed few low transparent pots with a few water lilies and requested us to pass it around, each person with a pot and 3 lilies. "Today's lesson will be Ikebana (Japanese Flower Arrangement). Time-limit will be by the end of this lesson and pass it to me tomorrow." Kurenai left with Shikamaru, probably back home to rest her body. I look at the pot and the lilies then sighed. _Ikebana again..?_ I placed the pot infront of me and started with the base for the flowers. It took quite alot of my patience to get it done though I've did it before. It took me around half an hour to finish it but it held my some of my pride so I had to do it perfectly. Indeed, my work couldn't be compared with that Yamanaka child but it was part of my masterpiece. The boys took some time to think of the arrangement but it didn't came out as good as what they were expecting. The girls received some help from Ino, which the guys envied. I took out my book and my pen and wrote down their information while waiting for time to pass.

'Ding Dong~'

The chime went off for the third time for the day. We left our artwork in Kurenai's classroom and headed for Maths. I went along with Naruto and gang though I was walking at the back. Along the way I saw 3 unfamiliar faces, _Akatsuki perhaps.._ I stopped to take a closer look, making sure that they didn't notice me. The first person was tall and had short blue hair but what was strange was that his skin was blue and had shark-like features. For a minute there, I was really curious about his race. But dropped the idea as I shifted my gaze to the next one. A tall man with short silver hair and bright purple eyes. Beside him was a man with tanned skin and stitches on his body. He seems familiar.. _I wonder where I've seen him.._ I continued walking when one of them was about to turn and see me.

Nothing special happened during Maths though Asuma, the husband of Kurenai, kept running out of cigarettes. He had short black hair and a black beard with brown eyes. Though he didn't resemble his father, that brat Hiruzen, who used to play pranks on me when he was trained by Hashirama and Tobirama. The trio I saw before the lesson sat near me and were Blue. The man with purple eyes kept trying to break the bracelet and was cursing something. _Is Akatsuki really that excited to break free of the bracelet's grasp..?_

I took another look at my schedule, _so after this is a break.. What should I do for the next hour..?_ I heard the bell went off and saw Naruto dashing off to somewhere. Sakura sighed,"Geez, why must Naruto _always_ rush to the cafeteria..?" _Cafeteria..?_ Hinata came up to me and spoke shyly,"Umm.. Hitomi-chan, w-would you like to join us for lunch?"

"Fine with me." I got up and strolled beside Hinata, listening to what she was talking about.

"I-I wonder what's on to-today's menu? I hope there's C-Cinnamon roll.." She turned to me,"Speaking of food, Hi-Hitomi-chan's favourite food is?"

"My favourite food...?" She nodded while I thought about it. "Hmm... Onigiri and Sake perhaps..?" Hinata had a confused expression when she heard me say 'Sake' then had the expression saying,'Maybe the Senjus all like Sake...' I chuckled softly recalling the time when I forced Hashirama to drink just a cup of Sake which he kept making up of excuses to not drink it.

We walked down the stairs and caught up with Shino, Neji, Tenten, Ino, Shikamaru and Lee, then proceeded to the cafe. When we reached, we could see Naruto and Choji wolfing down their second bowl of ramen. _Ramen for today..._ I sighed, since I didn't really fancy ramen since it was a large portion. Sakura and Kiba were walking towards a long table where Naruto was while the rest went to order there food. I looked around and saw Akatsuki at another long table with four other other people, one of which was Uchiha Sasuke. I sat down beside Naruto, opposite Choji and asked,"Does the cafe sell Sake?" Naruto looked at me, finishing the ramen soup,"Sake?"

Not far, the sound of heels clicking could be heard and the next thing I knew, a brown pot with the word 'Sake' was written on it was slammed on the table. I looked at her, and she said sounding slightly drunk,"If you want sake, here it is!" Tsunade sat down and poured herself a full bowl of sake and started drinking. "Tsunade baa-chan.." Naruto looked at Tsunade with a 'She's drinking sake again..? =.=' look before starting on his third bowl of ramen. I sighed, then an idea popped. I gestured Tsunade to lean her ear closer and whispered my idea. She looked shocked at first but went into deep thought before saying,"Hmm.. Let's go along with your idea then."

She poured me a bowl of sake then shouted,"Kanpai~ (Cheers~)" Drinking my sake, I saw _him_ standing at a corner, staring at me. But my attention was shifted to Tsunade when she announced to the Konoha shinobi,"You guys, the next three periods will be canceled." Everyone's heard perked up, and Sakura asked,"Why?"

"Just go to the Forty-Fourth Training Ground and report to Anko and Hitomi after you're done eating."

"Forty-Fourth Training Ground? As in Forest of Death?" Neji questioned.

I nodded as Tsunade was walking away, swaying left and right often. "And... why must we report to Hitomi..?" Kiba asked and Akamaru barked.

"Hitomi-sama, please follow me to Forty-Fourth Training Ground." The same female ANBU appeared behind me. I got out of my seat,"And please be in your shinobi attire." They looked at, probably thinking of my status and why is an ANBU escorting the way there, the ANBU passed me my shinobi outfit which was inside a Furoshiki (Japanese Traditional Wrapping Cloth).

"I shall wait for you outside while you change, Hitomi-sama." She stood outside the female restroom while I went into a cubical. I changed into a sleeveless turtleneck black shirt, a pair of black shorts that reached my mid-thigh and a pair of black standard shinobi sandals without a heel at the back. I adjust my kunai pouch which also held my shurikens that was around my my black worn-out finger-less glove that I used back then, I tied my silver hair into a high ponytail. Pulling down my shorts to cover my ANBU tattoo that was on my right thigh, I opened the storage scroll and a puff of smoke appeared. Reaching my hand inside the smoke, I grabbed my katana and re-scrolled the storage scroll, ready to pass it back to TenTen.

I walked out of the restroom and held the scroll out,"Pass this to a girl called TenTen." The ANBU took the scroll from me and held out a black key,"Hitomi-sama, I will now unlock the braclet."

Inserting the key, she turned it to the left 3 rounds and to the right 5 rounds. The bracelet then let out a 'click' sound and separated from me. I took it off, closed it and put it inside my kunai pouch. The ANBU disappeared and left me alone to figure the way to the Forest of Death. Few minutes of 'sight-seeing', I found the entrance to it and leaned against the fence, waiting for them to arrive.

I leaned my katana against the fence when I heard shouts,"LEE! YOU'RE ALMOST THERE!" "HAI GAI-SENSEI!" I recognised Lee's voice but the other was unfamiliar.

There was another presence beside me, but there was no harmful intentions. A female with dull violet hair tied in a spiky ponytail spoke,"To think I'll be able to see a big-shot here.. Nice to meet Hitomi-sama." I folded my arms,"Hm." Must be Anko... I took out my book and flipped to the page where I saw the name 'Mitarashi Anko' and started to read her information, along with other Jonins. Soon, all the shinobi ninjas were gathered infront of me along with Hatake Kakashi and a man who looks like Lee, but slightly older. I heard him tell Lee something about me,"Lee! Listen up, Hitomi-sama is a strong kunoichi and I heard that even that Uchiha Madara couldn't beat her during a spar!" Lee glanced my way and seemed to be admiring me with fires burning in his eyes, which I got used to.

The same ANBU appeared beside me again,"Hitomi-sama, I have released the bracelets on them as you've asked." "Hn." I closed my book, shoved it inside my pocket and grabbed my katana. Once they had settled down, I spoke,"Before we start the lesson, I want you to figure out what the word 'Strength' means."

"Doesn't 'Strength' basically mean 'Power'?" Naruto asked. I ignore him as Sakura landed a punch on him,"And you will figure it out during this exercise." "What exercise?" Choji munched on his chips while asking. "The objective - try to land a hit on me. That's why I've requested Tsunade to take off your bracelets. Accomplish that by 7pm and attack me with all you've got or else, you'll be the one who I get to cut." I spoke to them in my cold voice and they gulped.

"You've heard her and you may begin once she enters the forest." Anko said while unlocking the chains of the entrance to the Forest of Death. I held my katana close to me so that it'll be easier for me to react when one of them enters. Naruto and gang entered first and the moment I entered, they quickly dispersed, going to different directions. _It sure has been a long time since I last fought..._ I took my time strolling towards a red building in the middle of the forest, wondering when they'll attack.

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><p><strong>AN: Yay~ The test has finally begun! A fighting scene for chapter 4 and do you know who _he _is? Few more flashbacks coming your way, with guests like Hashirama, Tobirama and Mito. And I've been working on a Memories : Valentine One-shot, progressing quite smoothly. Sad thing is, I'm spending Valentines' in camp T.T So no chocos this year XD And I'll probably update latest by 17 February and the one-shot before 14 February. Don't forget to review~!**

**-Yuki**


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